If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad; if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
- John F. Kennedy

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Going From Bad to Worse

I lied..sort of. Things changed and I had to drop a colleague off at O'Hare for an earlier flight which precipitated me have a couple of hours to kill before my 6pm flight. So here I am in the Delta Crown Room and all dug in for the 3 hour wait to fly.The first thing I did, naturally, was to check the blog and there was PoP of Morning Martini gently chiding be about jumping the gun a little with me previous "Some Good News" post. As usual she was right and I was unaware of the bad news about recess appointments.

While Bush's recess appointment of Sam Fox was pretty offensive, the other two recess appointments the he made are in reality probably worse. I mean seriously, how much damage can Sam Fox do as the ambassador to Belgium except maybe piss them off so much they embargo their glorious beer and chocolate?

First, Bush also appointed Andrew Biggs to serve as the next deputy commissioner of Social Security, despite the fact that Biggs is an aggressive advocate of privatizing the Social Security system. He was nominated in November and immediately ridiculed by Senate Democrats. Basically Bush is now saying, with this appointment, is that he no longer will even consider negotiating the reform of the system. In other words, screw you Dems and screw you America.

If Biggs were not a big enough slap in the face he also appointed Susan Dudley to oversee federal regulatory policy at the Office of Management and Budget. This is a woman famous for her anti-regulatory career at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs holds sway over federal regulatory agencies like the EPA and helps set regulatory policy for a wide range of issues, from workplace safety to water quality….

As the director of regulatory studies at the industry-backed Mercatus Center she has worked to oppose vital public health regulation as a “hidden tax” that hinders profits.

Among her list of targets have been EPA health standards for smog, opposition to lower-polluting cars and air bags, She even opposed stronger regulations for arsenic in drinking water. I am not sure why but the Senate had some concerns about her nomination.This is probably the worst of the recess appointments and will have the greatest potential for immediate harm to the environment and the welfare of the American people. The White House not only doesn’t care about the concerns of the Senate, it has also demonstrated that it doesn’t care about the welfare of the American people or even the constitutional nomination process. I guess that is really no surprise is it?

You were right PoP, now I am really mad. I keep asking myself how much more damage he will do before we rid ourselves of him and he doesn't disappoint. Every week, hell almost daily, he reaches new depths.